White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told reporters that the president will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world. “This proliferation, President Trump believes, is very dangerous,” Wales said. While the summit will address global security concerns, US officials stated that the war in Ukraine will not be a topic for the trilateral talks. A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that Washington maintains a separate negotiation track with Kyiv and Moscow aimed at ending the conflict. “China is not really a part of that track, so it doesn’t seem appropriate to have the Ukraine discussion there,” the official said.
Trump is also expected to discuss the Iran conflict during the visit. According to US officials, the president will hold bilateral talks with Xi Jinping in Shenzhen. Trump is scheduled to depart Washington on Monday for the Philippines, where he will attend a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) before traveling to Shenzhen. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is slated to join the president in China but will not participate in the meetings with Xi and Putin, officials noted.
The 2026 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting is set to convene leaders from 21 member economies from 18 to 19 November. The summit’s agenda focuses on artificial intelligence, trade tensions, and economic growth. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, stated that Beijing looks forward to achieving “more practical results” with partners in areas such as AI, trade, connectivity, and the digital economy. As of the announcement, neither Moscow nor Beijing has issued a formal comment regarding the reported trilateral meeting.
The next expected step in this diplomatic engagement is Trump’s departure for the Philippines on Monday, preceding his arrival in Shenzhen for the APEC summit and the high-level bilateral and trilateral discussions.
